Up till now, I have always used the Apple EarPods. It’s small and convenient. The sound is decent. The problem is that I keep losing them or leaving them in my pants’ pockets and they ended up in the washer and dryer. I go through at least 4 sets a year. For Christmas, I asked for a pair of Beats, but my wife got me a Sennheiser Urbanite XL instead.

When I first received it, I was not fond of the price tag. She convinced me to give it a try. I have to admit; it sounds pretty damn amazing. I could hear the vibration of the thumping bass on a hip-hop track and the crispness of the brushwork on the drums on a jazz ballad. It sure makes the listening experience much more pleasurable.

I am still adjusting to the bulkiness of the headphone since I am so used to the convenient of the EarPods. When I took a walk in the cold to get lunch, however, the headphone not only provides me top-notch sound, but also protects my ears from the chilly wind. I am keeping it. Thank you, wonderful wife.

According to the book category, I have read and reviewed 65 books so far this year. It’s the highest number of books I have read since 2004. Here’s the breakdown: 65 (2014), 30 (2013), 10 (2012), 21 (2011), 10 (2010), 9 (2009), 22 (2207), 8 (2008), 40 (2006), 22 (2005), and 28 (2004).

Ken Elston Wins

Despite the sweeping control of the Republican, Democratic newcomer Ken Elston took the city council spot in Manassas. I am proud to have contributed to his campaign web site with my buddy Jim Van Meer.

On Teaching Advanced Web Design

In researching and thinking about Advanced Web Design, a course I might be teaching in the spring 0f 2015, I am changing my mind on the type of projects I want to implement for the class. Rather than focusing on technologies, which students could learn on themselves, I would like to turn my attention to digital design such as online editorial experiences, online marketing campaigns and web typography. Now I just need three more enrollments to make it happen.

Poplar Spring Relaunched

The new owners of Poplar Spring Inn had hired a development firm to replace the old site I had designed and developed. They turned a simple, usable, fast-performance web site into a busy, eye-candy, slow-performance site. Unlike the old site, which I carefully crafted to boost performance using MODX, the new site is jammed with all types of plugins, CSS and JavaScripts using WordPress. Take a look at the code and you’ll see what I mean. As for the new design, all the contents are hidden below the giant image on every page. The typography is also a big mess. The good thing is I am now off the hook.

Obsessive Reading

My wife complaint that I hold a book on my hand every chance I get. I am not trying to be a snob or anything, but I am juggling with three books at the moment. I am reading Robin Kelley’s Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original. It’s 500-page long, but it is also so engaging. I am also reading John Pollock’s jQuery: A Beginner’s Guide. It’s roughly 350 pages, but he makes the concepts so easy to understand. I am also reading Sue Apfelbaum and Juliette Cezzar’s Designing the Editorial Experience: A Primer for Print, Web, and Mobile to see if I could use it for Advanced Web Design’s textbook.

Added a new section to demo typographic techniques using CSS. This is my own way of learning the latest features of CSS. The demos so far include first-line indent, drop cap, ligatures, multi-columns and flexbox. Bookmark the page for more demos in the near future.

I met up with a potential client yesterday and she excited showed me a site for her friend’s business that she really liked. As soon as she pulled up the site, I immediately recognized the Squarespace’s template. What did she like about the site? She loved the big photos, the sliding images and the photo parallax effect.

Even though I am getting tired of hearing Squarespace ads on every podcast as well as the hosts raving about it, I have to give Squarespace the credits for capturing its target audience: small mom and pops shops. My only worry is that all of these small business owners are wanting something like the Squarespace template without realizing that they are losing their own uniqueness. Don’t they want to standout rather than stand-in?

For just $8 a month, they could have a decent site even though it might look like 10 thousand other sites or they can paid designer a much higher price to create a unique experience for thier products and services. The choice is thiers.

Even though e-books are on the rise, I still enjoy having a paper book on my hands, especially when I want to be completely disconnected from the digital world. Since I have become obsessed with reading and collecting books, I wanted to put together a library section of all the books I currently own. These books, ranging from typography to design & development to music to grammar and fiction, are my favorite. Most books I have read first from the library before buying them; therefore, these are the ones that I will be revisiting in the future. There are a few books that I still have yet to buy (the ones with the word “acquiring”). These books are still on my Amazon’s Wish List. So if you would like to buy me a book or two (for whatever reason I don’t know), I definitely appreciate it.

Dear Donny,
I am Bạch Yến. Today, I stumbled onto your blog at visualgui.com and read with great interest your comments on my new CD “Bạch Yến hát Tình Ca Lam Phương.” Your writings show that you have very profound appreciation for the music of Việt Nam, and in particular, great affinity for the music of Lam Phương. I am touched by your very flattering remarks about my new CD, and would like to express my sincere thanks.
With best regards,
Bạch Yến